DE 102 23 304 A1 discloses an apparatus for embedding samples in paraffin, having a pouring station and a reservoir container for the paraffin. The reservoir container is equipped with a heating device for melting paraffin in solid form. Here all of the paraffin is melted, and stored in a molten state during operation.
DE 10 2008 054 071 A1 describes a tissue processor for processing tissue samples. The processor comprises, besides several chemical tanks, containers for liquid paraffin as well as a reservoir station for melting paraffin pellets or paraffin flakes. Molten paraffin can be pumped via conduits from the reservoir station into the containers.
WO 2006/089365 A1 discloses a tissue processor having a reservoir container whose floor is equipped with a heating element, for melting paraffin blocks. The paraffin blocks can be stacked on one another, at first only the lower block being melted. Contact between the lower paraffin block and the heated floor is ensured by a weight on the paraffin blocks. A heating mandrel projecting into the melting container is furthermore provided as an additional heating element.
US 2010/0167038 A1 discloses a melting apparatus for melting materials based on polyester, polyamide, polyolefin, or the like, by means of which apparatus motor vehicles can be coated with those materials. For this, the material is melted in a melting container and then conveyed into a storage container.
EP 0 331 768 A1 discloses an apparatus for melting adhesive, in which a melting container is heated and the adhesive is then withdrawn therefrom by means of a pump.
The known melting apparatuses are disadvantageous in that melting takes a relatively long time, and in the meantime it is not possible to withdraw liquid paraffin. Proceeding from this existing art, the intention is to shorten the melting time.